James Brown, Technotronic...Wild Fun !

Wild. 'hot' music can explode beautifully in the brain. There is something powerful and super-fine about bristling wild music...especially that of the powerful James Brown and the pulsin' and compulsively rockin' music of the super coolness group, Technotronic. Listening to the immortal James Brown do the fabulous number 'I Feel Good' really made my day sizzle beautifully. Then a little later it was techno time cause I listened to 'Pump Up The Jam' by Technotronic. What great musical dynamite these artists provided. Listening to the wild music pumps up my ready soul so beautifully. What a fabulous experience!

A Big Merry Christmas To All Of You!

Merry Christmas to everyone all over the world. This is a great day in our American culture. I have so many memories of the wonders of Christmas. I remember the fantastic early mornings in our Southwest Georgia house when I was a small boy enjoying the redolent smells of my mama's cooking. The family times were marvelous when we visited with all our people. Especially tremendous were the Christmas visits to my grandmothers. I loved the times with my two truly wonderful sons. They were both so kind and I loved their strong sense of creativity! Enjoy the beauty of this happy and joyful Christmas day. Show your love and happiness to everyone. It is joyful to be a Georgian and an American and to know that I am a part of this dynamic meaningful thing that is our American culture! Again.....Merry Christmas Everyone!

'Holiday Affair' Is A Lovely Christmas Film

Last Friday night I saw a Christmas-style film that made me remember what being a kid and loving Christmas was all about. The movie was 'Holiday Affair' with Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh. The little son of Janet Leigh is named Timmy Ennis and he is played by a talented child actor named Gordon Gebert. The truly beautiful thing about this joyful film is the very shiny innocence that is so strong in this 1949 classic. The director...(Don Hartman) did a marvelous job on this one. The film's story is that of a young widow and a sales clerk and the romantic vibrations really resound in this one. The single mom (Janet Leigh) gets the fine, tough guy Robert Mitchum unemployed because of her unusual shenanigans. I don't go for too much sappy film stuff but this story has so much poignancy and intensity it magically draws the viewer into the fold. The young Janet Leigh is so beautiful and engaging in this film that my, my she is truly intoxicating. Amusing semi-romantic bits are sprinkled throughout the film with the crafty old-time actor, Wendell Corey trying to give Robert Mitchum a real run-for-the-money from the romantic standpoint. When one sees two amazing actors working like Robert Mitchum and the solid dramatic soul, Wendell Corey, then it is possible to really know what the true enjoyment of great film is all about. Many years ago my youngest son attending Georgia State University took a great class in film history and he and I watched a whole grouping of classic old-style films. It was a beautiful experience for me because it rekindled my interest in the glory days of moviedom history. My youngest son, Gary, loved films and he loved to write. He was truly a marvelous writer. He passed away after a horrible 13-month violently painful battle with Stage 4 cancer in March 2005. It spread from his esophagus throughout his body. I miss my son so much. He had a tremendous creativity and loved to write and truly loved the marvelous world of the movies so very much.

Atlanta Okinawa Kenjin-Kai Party is SUPER!

Atlanta Okinawa Kenjin-Kai had an absolutely wonderful Christmas Party tonight up in Kennesaw, Georgia. I enjoyed the party so much. The Okinawan music was tremendous giving everyone the traditional melodies of the Okinawan people and there was so much marvelous dance also. There was also terrific Taiko drum dancing. The big sounds rang out and thoroughly delighted all the adults and children in attendance. One great thing was the fact one Okinawan woman is graduating from Kennesaw State University. Her parents and family came all the way from Okinawa yesterday. That family loved all this happening very much. It was delightful to see all the joyful passion that was a part of this Atlanta Kenjin-Kai celebration. But there was a truly delightful cultural blend because the little children got a thrill when there was a great experience of the arrival of Santa Claus and Mrs. Santa Claus. It is so fantastic when the diverse cultural aspects of the Southern Americans and also the Okinawan people mesh into a fine fabric of meaningful good harmony together. It does my heart good to be a part of a truly delightful and creative multi-cultural experience. This Atlanta Kenjin-Kai Party was a tremendous delight!

Blake Shelton Has Powerful Songs

Blake Shelton is a really solid country music singer. Many times I just like only a few singers of country stuff. But Blake Shelton has a way with a song as my mama used to say. I listened to a good Blake Shelton tune today....'Who Are You When I'm Not Looking.' The song really got me...as the old-time music guys used to say. This one has a good hook. Listen To B. Shelton. Enjoy!

'The Tourist' Movie Just Rocks Out!

'The Tourist' movie really rocks. I heard a lot of stuff on this film but I wanted to give it a good viewing. I saw it and it tickled me good. I like the sort of casual nonchalance that Johnny Depp has and I confess I find Angelina Jolie very interesting. This tourist movie is full of old-style adventure story action. Many of the media acerbic wits might figure this film is mundane. But I don't see it that way. Angelina Jolie comes up with a good performance in this one and so does Johnny Depp. I enjoyed the crafty Depp's work in the fine film about Dillinger a little while back and I figure Mr. Depp has come up with good work again in this one.....'The Tourist.'

Bill Evans: Vivid Improvisatory Elegance

Poetic jazz piano performances are inspiring. One of the most eloquent jazz piano artists is the passionate man of intense creativity, Bill Evans. Some of his work on the incomparable Riverside label is so profound. A veneer of resilient passion shines in the immaculate improvisatory work of Bill Evans. A strong, favorite of mine in the Evans musical portfolio is the jazz composition with so much lyrical quality....the one called 'Waltz for Debby.' Just like other elegant jazz pianists like Bud Powell and McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans is an artist of tremendous power. His penchant for grand linear keyboard work is a marvelous joy to experience.

Etta James: A Singer With Lots of Style

In the late 1930s, Etta James was born in Los Angeles, California. She really got her musical star going strong in the 1950s. Johnny Otis got Etta James moving right along with a group he put the name of 'Peaches' on. Before long, Etta James was on tour with people like Little Richard, Marvin Gaye and Bo Diddley. Little Richard and the rockin' Bo Diddley could truly get the job done, also.The woman became a success with some strong and so profound R and B tunes. It was good that she worked with numerous big names because it gave her work a lot of good polish and style. Listened to her sensational song 'Something's Got a Hold on Me' recently and my, my it was so terrific and powerful. When she developed that song 'At Last' it was really tremendous. Her voice is dominant and has so much musical impact. Bless you Etta James.

Mama, Thanksgiving and Southern Culture

This is a culture piece about my mother and Thanksgiving.

My mother was a marvelous and so creative South Georgia woman. She taught French in our town's High School. But for most of her years she was a social worker. Even though she had a good work ethic and labored hard she still had time foe making great Thanksgiving meals for my Daddy and me. There is very little as delightful as a wonderful, delicious Thanksgiving meal with succulent turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce and pecan pies and red velvet cakes for the desserts. I have so many lasting and very profound terrific memories of all those Thanksgiving meals my Mama made. I know that the holidays with all their hearty family memories are indeed an integral part of the Southern culture. Memories are a beautiful blessing for all of us.

Paul Klee's Innovative Concepts of Art

The somewhat odd paintings of Paul Klee are a bit hard to fathom. Yet, if a person just calmly stands there and studies the precise almost eerily minimalist conceptions of this superior artist from Switzerland then one can't help but be vigorously overwhelmed by his innovative artistic stylings and vital aesthetic rubric. Some of Paul Klee's early work echoed the grand influences of Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne. I like the dizzying emotionalism of Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne. Finally after going more into a Cubist mode, Paul Klee produced unique jewel-oriented paintings in his own terse but so achingly truthful language. Admittedly just like some of the political blather espoused by some of the non-erudite Middle East analysts, the art of Klee is hard to visually and emotionally comprehend. Indeed with others like Georges Braque a person could access the art truisms a little easier. Politically, the bizarre politics of the straining Middle East are much akin to the confusing art vision that a soul finds so prevalent in the mixed blessing that is the intense art of Paul Klee. The Paul Klee idea modes of the odd world of machines and unusual buildings is a puzzle and yet so useful in stirring all of us to think which is one of the fascinating and trenchant good meanings of the world of art and the ideas interlaced within it.

Sonny Rollins, a superior saxophonist!

Sonny Rollins is a tenor saxophone giant. The big sound with the vivid soaring solos just overwhelms the listener. Needed a gigantic pick-me-up today so I listened to two fantastic Sonny Rollins numbers....'The Bridge' and 'St. Thomas.' The exuberant, passionate playing of Rollins packed a quite inventive jazz musical punch. One of my favorite thrills about Sonny Rollins is the fact he surrounds himself with clever sidemen. Superb in this regard is the bass man Bob Cranshaw. The high-impact style of Bob Cranshaw is somewhat akin to the remarkable bass work of the famed Paul Chambers. Superior bass men can help jazz leaders out so much and of course Bob Cranshaw and Paul Chambers represent good evidence of this. Enjoy the tremendous big tenor sounds of Sonny Rollins today. Have a so remarkable Saturday!

Curtis, Marvin.....Fellas with Soul!

Power singing...truly making a soul feel so good. That spells out the magic of Curtis Mayfield. Listened to his huge satisfying music today and bless me...it felt so good. The man born in Chicago's projects had a wonderful way with his songs. The music just charged up the room. I especially love the great numbers, 'People Get Ready' and 'SuperFly.' This guy is a powerhouse. Just like Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield has huge charisma. Yeah, Mr. Curtis Mayfield and Mr. Marvin Gaye have super music that makes me get on up and dance.

Thoughts of a one-time Band Guy

Some thoughts on the people of Georgia and our culture. When I was about 11 years old I got involved in playing the saxophone. There in my Southwest Georgia town of Cairo I wanted to join the band. I loved music. I had me a good band and instrument instructor. Oh he was a tough man of hard discipline, but things worked out fairly well. The thing that frustrated me was all the social weirdness that started coming my way. Back then football dominated everything. And socially the good looking girls could not stand the band boys, who are now called band geeks. I got bugged because like most mixed up young males I did not want to be treated like a nothing or meaningless soul. So I got more and more into culture. My school had a good drama program so I started enjoying acting. The biggest joy in my life came when I did well in a feisty one-act play by the great Russian playwright, Chekov. Most of the people in my class could not hardly ever figure us thinking types out. They thought we were creeps who read too much and liked music and the arts. One of the amusing things in my life now is the fact I have enjoyed the steadily increasing popularity of the interesting television show 'Glee' which tries to show the fun that can be had with good music and dance programs for young people. I feel good knowing that some teenagers now can really have fun and not just be subjugated by the crass social mechanisms of football mania with all its intense social pushing around of young minds.

Temptations, Stevie Wonder: Genius Lives!

The Temptations and Stevie Wonder...musical artists that lift my soul. Oh my, yes! I have deep in my psyche all the excellent memories that come roaring back in me when I hear The Temps singing and dancing with the fantastic song 'My Girl' and when I hear the tremendous man Stevie Wonder doing the aching, beautiful number, 'For Once In My Life.' Believe me the marvelous flood of terrific emotions is so satisfying! The music of The 60s and 70s is so strong with an incredible emotional dynamic that can just totally engulf a man or woman. The music of what some call the Vietnam era is so aching and so poignant and yes profound that it is as if you had three huge prime rib entrees on your plate and you ate every single bite. I love the genius and the remarkable musical expressiveness of The Temptations and Stevie Wonder and today on this big event day (the birthday of my eldest son) indeed I am a tremendously happy man!

Ray Brown , Gene Harris: Good Sounds

Great jazz bass work! That is the accomplishment of the mighty Ray Brown. Listened today to The Ray Brown Trio with the remarkable Gene Harris on piano. These guys played an absolutely awesome version of the classic tune, 'Summertime.' I have always liked the sound of fine jazz performers putting together truly engaging work on haunting ballads like 'Summertime.' The swing that Ray Brown maintains on the bass is terrific with its enchanting sound. I needed some jazz that could pick me up today and believe me, the Ray Brown Trio along with the superb Gene Harris on piano certainly did a wonderful job of fulfilling my needs. Thanks guys.

Roy Hargrove: Exciting Jazz Artist!

Roy Hargrove creates energetic joy, a kind of stirring trumpet jazz that really draws you in. The man who came out of Texas has a vibrant, edgy sound that reminds one a bit of the fabulous Freddie Hubbard. They say Hargrove met the marvelous Wynton Marsalis early. Hargrove (like Marsalis) has a lot of fire in his playing. And it is so "right on!" Listened today to a great tune...'Strasbourg St. Denis' and it had the feisty bright sound that made my day feel so good. Roy Hargrove and his quintet make modern music, a jazz that truly engages the listener. Try some of the profound, ultra-creative jazz of Roy Hargrove if you want a good jazz experience.

Kenny Chesney: 'Hemingway's Whiskey'

A new song I like is 'Hemingway's Whiskey' by Kenny Chesney. This guy knows how to develop a country music song that has plenty of meaning. I know the name Hemingway is what instantly drew me to this number. For a long time I have been fascinated with all the prose that Ernest Hemingway wrote in his lifetime. He always said....write short...don't use too many adjectives and adverbs...use nouns and verbs. It is fascinating tying to get one's head around this so 'hip' writing mantra. Listen, I couldn't help but wonder what drew Kenny Chesney to coming up with such a meaningful song like this 'Hemingway's Whiskey.' The Chesney style is full of meaning and the beauty of this music is the passion and superb homage Kenny Chesney has going to a truly great man, Ernest Hemingway. Country music in its terrific modern form has lots of meaning and power and our friend the talented Mr. Kenny Chesney has come up with something very special with 'Hemingway's Whiskey.'

I Am Sorry............

Yesterday I had Dianne Reaves name down in a jazz post. The correct spelling of this person is Dianne Reeves. I am very sorry for this error.

Russell Malone and Friends Truly Delight!

Guitar music just engages the mind so beautifully. Superb jazz guitar really tickles the fancy of a veteran music enthusiast like me. Today, I listened to the extremely tasteful jazz guitar of Russell Malone. And it was a giant delight. One track that proved terrific in its sophisticated styling was Russell Malone working out with the marvelous vocalist, Dianne Reeves on that lovely tune, 'Embraceable You.' The lush, gentle chords and jazz tones put me in a gigantic stage of supreme bliss. The vocal work of Dianne Reaves is poignant and delicate and so thoughtful. Also, I listened to some fantastic work with Russell Malone playing guitar with the great Ron Carter Trio on a rousing rendition of the standard, 'Autumn Leaves.' The elegant Ron Carter played in a totally exquisite manner, making his bass work just entrance everyone. Additionally, the piano work of the skillful Jacky Terrason on piano was so enriching to all the listeners souls. I listen to people like Ron Carter and Russell Malone and Jacky Terrason and it brings me sublime delights....I get strongly into the great world of "awareness" that Deepak Chopra mentions quite often in his work. Superb jazz has made this a profound and so beautiful Thursday.

DAWGS Get It Done! They won one!

Wonderful Saturday! The DAWGS of my favorite UGA got finally going today. They whipped the mighty VOLS of Tenn. I celebrated. Felt so good. I am an old soul...so I listened to Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Miles Davis this afternoon. As a friend of mine says..."Life is Good!" My, my......IT SURE IS!

Dizzy Gillespie, Terry Gibbs: Jazz Heroes

Dizzy Gillespie and Terry Gibbs are two jazzmen who produce fantastic jazz excitement. The trumpet genius, Dizzy, has an uncanny ability to come up with improvisatory lines that just sleekly soar out into the far reaches of outer space. The drivin' and vigorous pulsating vibes jazz music of the masterful Terry Gibbs just enthralls me. The sounds I heard today with the greatness of Gillespie and Gibbs were sensational. I especially delighted in the Dizzy Gillespie work (along with Terry and his band) on a feisty composition called 'Smoke em up.' The clever, vigorous solo work of the jazz icons was so fresh and so vividly explosive. Another fine rendition I heard today was the so-engaging giant jazz classic, 'A Night in Tunisia.' This number sends me into total joy every time I hear it. The thing has so much, beautifully visceral punch that it is a vast, remarkable and so freshly contemporary experience. The thrill of jazz music is when it comes so brilliantly alive with gigantic excitement. That's the sum total of listening to Dizzy Gillespie and Terry Gibbs. Their music is kind of like reading good tough fiction from the master, Elmore Leonard. The fun of fine jazz is very similar to the delight a person gets in reading great E. Leonard, like maybe that superb book of Mr. Leonard's....'Out of Sight.' The vibrant, kickin' strong JAZZ MUSIC of Mr. Dizzy Gillespie and Mr. Terry Gibbs packed my Tuesday with so much CRACKLING JOY today!

Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall: Great Ones!

Art thoughts. Been thinking today about how enriching it is to really delve into a huge passion for art. It enlivens one's soul so much. I love the wild, bright colors so passionately obvious in the intricate arena of Pablo Picasso and his cubism paintings. Picasso had a style that was so VIVID. And his unusual material like the mighty '"Guernica' was so immensely grand. Also I have thought today about how I love the spiritual, almost so-intense bright colored work of the genius artist, Marc Chagall. Indeed, the man called Marc Chagall was a soul who produced incredible truly satisfying art that one's brain can really gorge itself on. Today on this beautiful Monday let us say Bless You Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall for the thrilling artistic experiences you have brought into our lives.

UGA Football Game....So Weird

Last night, the guys from UGA played the Colorado men in a bizarre football game. The UGA men played like tiny kids in a gross 1950's kids movie. Plenty of mistakes, horrendous errors and moronic cases of guys being way out of position, defensively. The offense was ABSURD. The days of H. Walker are no more with the bulldogs. The defense is not anything but pathetic and the so-called offense is grotesque. Bring back the good old days of many moons ago. This Colorado game was an insult to good Southern football culture.

How About Play Strong This Time, UGA!

This is a BIG Prayer! I am a UGA man so I am putting all my strength in a GIGANTIC PRAYER that the DAWGS do not show all that shame and atrocious lack of effort in the game with the men from Colorado. Guys....try to remember you have a long history with some outstanding players. Play like powerhouses...not like kids from the 11-year-old neighborhood gridiron unit. Play like the great lineman...Ray Rismiller...used to do back in the 1960s.

Movie Giant....Tony Curtis Passes

A giant of acting has passed. Tony Curtis is gone. The man has always been a huge favorite of mine. He was a staple as a friend of mine once said. He was SUPER in 'Some Like It Hot' and 'Sweet Smell of Success.' Let's stop and remember one of the most creative men ever and what he meant to the movie world....the GREAT TONY Curtis!

UGA Football in Chaotic State

I am shook today! The UGA Football Game with Miss. State last Saturday.....So HORRIBLE. This team should be totally ashamed. Have not seen this kind of horrendous play in decades. The atrocious line play, the FUMBLES, the disgusting defense! How gross! Get better men.....PLEASE!

Sara Bareilles: Super Hitmaker!

Sara Bareilles: What a GREAT happening musical artist now. Her new work, 'Kaleidoscope Heart' is jam-packed with kicking, so "cool" music. And that song of hers, 'King of Anything' is so right-on! So rad. So "cool." Energy women like Lady Gaga and Sara Bareilles are so with the program! When u people hear a new sounds singer like Sara Bareilles it makes life such a great trip. Journey into this woman's music and have a really SUPER TIME!

Chris Brown: Big Songs...Oh Yeah!

Chris Brown is a somethin' else man. The guy has a big Numero Uno right now....'Deuces.' It has such a wild surging beat that it knocks you out. Believe me the fella knows how to make a chart topper. The man Chris Brown is culturally happening, now. This is a big hitmaker. The "hip" Chris Brown.

Lady Gaga: Sparkling and Electrifying!

Lady Gaga is a HUGE force in American culture right now. She has herself dancin' really strong in so many musical and political happening spheres. So "Cool!" She has so many huge hordes of fans following her on Twitter. Also....she has interesting political contact with folks like Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada. It is remarkable....remember when Lady Gaga captivates audiences her music is so POWERFUL! One great thing additionally is her colorful, highly innovative fashion sense. Culturally it is unusual that a dynamic super force like Lady Gaga develops so incredibly rapidly like Lady Gaga. The culture of this country gets more and more complicated with all this engaging blending of brash Rock music dynamics, "Cool" FASHION, politics and a strong spiritual tone of electrifying bright dynamism in our mod society. Lady Gaga: Wild Soul! This is a SHOUT OUT for Lady Gaga and our POWERHOUSE society!

JapanFest: A GIGANTIC Success!

JapanFest finished up this afternoon at 5 p.m. EST and it was truly wonderful. This event at the great Gwinnett Convention Center, Duluth Ga. was so much fun. I believe sincerely that this was the best JapanFest I have ever experienced. This is an exquisite event for the Metro Atlanta area. The huge crowd of people from all over had a super time and everyone was so happy and excited. The delightful thing was the fact that the fascinating multi-layered culture of Japan was beautifully presented to all people attending the big event. A GIANT thank you to all for helping make this year's JapanFest a great, super-fabulous and so memorable event!

JapanFest Blossoms Saturday and Sunday!

JapanFest will bloom in a few hours. Yes, Tomorrow and Sunday, JapanFest will be held once again at Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Gwinnett County (Duluth). There will be lots of fun for adults and children. Plenty of great music, dance, arts, crafts and grand games for the children. Come one, come all and let's all celebrate the exciting creativity that is the totality of the unique Japanese culture.

Japan, Okinawa and EXCITING JapanFest!

The great JapanFest event is coming this Saturday and Sunday, September 18 and September 19. This is a beautiful annual experience here in the Metro Atlanta area. Once again the two-day event will be held at the Gwinnett Center Convention Center located at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth, Georgia 30097. I know that all people, adults and children will get a huge amount of fun out of this colorful, exciting cultural time of celebration! There will be fun crafts for the young people and unusual cultural things for all the adults in attendance. The very diverse elements of all Japanese society will be presented. Things like the classic dances of all parts of Japan, martial arts, bonsai, lovely original classic folk music, anime, and company exhibits will all be a part of the exciting, gorgeous activities. I am especially interested in the work of the people of Okinawa. The work of the members of the Atlanta Okinawa Kenjin-Kai will be presented to all. This is an exciting group that does wonderful things to show the contributions of the Okinawa prefecture to the incredible beauty of the totality of all Japanese culture. Get ready for some truly great times at the 2010 JapanFest. Come on all of you! You will have a marvelous great time this coming Saturday and Sunday at JapanFest at the Gwinnett Center Convention Center located at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth, Georgia 30097.

Jennifer Aniston, John Mayer: 'ATL' Fun!

Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer have been heating up my city, Atlanta. It is so super-rad that the stunning, gorgeous beauty Jennifer Aniston and the marvelous and so "right on" musician John Mayer have been truly helping out Atlanta's celeb social scene the last few days. Indeed, the attractive pop culture lovely, Aniston brings so much real strong class to our busy neck of the woods. She has a massive following especially with her big army of 'Friends' fans.It is "hip" for what you might call a "happening" city like Atlanta to suddenly have two major rocket-power super stars in our midst. The marvelous Jennifer Aniston is here in the big 'A' shooting the new movie 'Wanderlust.' And the feisty, ultra-creative musician John Mayer has had some great concert action going here in the wild world of Atlanta's fantastic South Side. I love it when fascinating people like Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer spice up our busy, bustling, happening city.

Barney Kessel: Guitar Man of Excellence!

Happy Jazz Fan mood. That's me today. Jazz can aid a person's psyche. I wanted some great liquid lines on jazz guitar...So I went looking for the fine music of Barney Kessel this afternoon. I dug listening to the Barney Kessel version of 'Jersey Bounce.' I have known some mighty good people from Jersey. And the sleek jazz guitar of B. Kessel was so delightful today. Hey, everyone! Enjoy jazz guitar. It is a whole lotta fun!

Blind Lemon Jefferson and Muddy Waters!

'Matchbox Blues' and 'Black Snake Moan' by the legendary Blind Lemon Jefferson are two of the best wild livin' blues a soul could imagine. When I listened today to these genius renditions of blues giant tunes from the mid to late 1920s it surely helped out my kind of worn Tuesday mood. The strong man from Texas....yeah this Blind Lemon Jefferson....well he was a powerful man with a song. He could make the thing leap right up in your face. Good salty blues is a fantastic piece of our American culture. When you hear men like the fine Muddy Waters with his passion and Blind Lemon Jefferson with his super style then you know we have a good, feisty culture indeed!

Southwest Georgia Labor Day Good Times!

Happy Labor Day! I used to have great times on Labor Day when I was growing up in Cairo deep down in Southwest Georgia. My Daddy and Mama and I would quite often go to one of my uncle's houses. The whole family (on my Daddy's side) would come to the event and bless me there was good food. It'd be so raging hot you could feel the huge squirting sweat coming out all over you and all the flowers in the huge back yard would be potently redolent with the giant Southwest Georgia aromas. One uncle of mine a big, tall guy named T.W. would do all the wild frying of the fish. He got the fish amazingly hot. He said he wanted it "John Brown" crunchy. My Mama liked the natural grits ole' T.W. cooked. He threw a huge heppin' of cheese in the big grits pot and Lord did he cook the daylights out of that grits. It was good time Charlie, that's what this scene was. After awhile when things eased up a little then my Uncle Clower (a huge man with incredible strong handshake) and my Uncle T.W. and Byron (another uncle) and my Daddy would get out some bourbon. Little toddy time then. It was a time to remember. Now those folks and days are gone and my life is so calm....yet, I tell you something...those crackling good times....they provided some mighty fine memories. Mighty fine!

Losing Boredom's Shackles

Boredom is a petty ugly thing. The slime of being bored has stuck in me for a long time but when I was quite young and in the mish-mash of being a student the mood of the bored was a hard essence to shake. One thing helped, however. When I was an adolescent I discovered the engaging and remarkable novels of the wily Norman Mailer. I recall reading the bizarre and super-modern novel, 'The Deer Park' by Mailer. It got me all excited because I had never read a man whose words just leapt off the page. The same mood of raw joy struck when I read 'Portnoy' by Philip Roth. It is absurd how some of my so-called friends put me down for liking Norman Mailer and the intense music of Mahler. I find that when we make a good discovery that is pleasing to us then it is best to just leap on the bull, ride it and try hard to have a nice life. It is obvious to me that kind of thinking makes a lot of sense. I tire of all the sophomoric and vapid prattle that has been poured into my head by all the pseudo-minds that I have come across. So let us have our Norman Mailers and Philip Roths. Let's have a dash of meaning and not a swamp of meaningless intellectual garbage to trudge through.

Thinking on Southern Culture

Morning. Thinking about odd, complex things about Southern culture today. The football season has started again and it reminds me of a lot of stuff. When I was young the sports guys ruled big and us thin thinker types didn't have any chance, especially socially. All folks chased the holy grail of being with the marvelous whoop-ti-do athlete. I recall the disgusting bullying, the fiz ed mean souls who mentally cracked the whip on all of us slight guys. It is sad when a culture beats all this toughening up into you. I am ancient now. But deep down the rage lurks...the only thing that helps is religion. Thank you for good souls like Joel Osteen of Houston. I remember when I was about 13 I learned how to use my vocabulary to slight the ugly male and female sports bullies and to make them on edge. Their rejection of thinkers and unique souls may some day come back to haunt them, especially when they get older and the horrors of disease start hitting hard. I know this set of words is negative but I grow so tired of the disgusting rejections that have hit hard for so many decades. Please, let us have a glimmer of hope.

Jazz Guitar Hipness Is A Fun Experience!

Long, lilting jazz guitar lines really make me happy. Two elegant masters of mainstream jazz technique are Tal Farlow and Jimmy Raney. When they go off heavy into the merry world of the improv lines their music switches into a gear that is beguiling. Terrific good moods form in the cranium of elder statesmen like me upon hearing the good solid guitar work of Tal Farlow and Jimmy Raney. I like the picaresque aspects of the Raney style. But also I massively enjoy the myriad of mysterious intricacies Tal Farlow can conjure up. I especially dug a clever jazz joy...Farlow's rendition of the lovely tune, 'All of Me' today.

Atlanta Okinawa Kenjin-Kai: Exciting People

Atlanta Okinawa Kenjin-Kai is staying busy with many activities at this time. The members of this fine group promote the culture and ideas of the Okinawan people here in the Metro Atlanta area. The Okinawan culture has a long history of truly fascinating and profound creative experiences. The dances of these people bring a poetic and delightful approach to showing everyone how exciting and joyful the people of Okinawa are. I am excited about the many things going on with the Atlanta Okinawa Kenjin-Kai. In the month of September the busy people of Kenjin-Kai are going to be working extra hard.
On Saturday, September 18 and on Sunday, September 19, the fine members of the Atlanta Okinawa Kenjin-Kai will be participating in the annual JapanFest which will be held once again at Gwinnett Center, Sugarloaf Parkway. This is a fascinating event with lots of fun for everyone, both children and adults. This is a wonderful exchange of cultures--that of Okinawa, Japan and America. We know many people from all over the U.S. will enjoy this great time.
Also, I would like to let all people know that the annual Atlanta Okinawa Kenjin-Kai Christmas Party is coming on December 11 of this year. This event is always so much fun and it contains so much joyful music, dance and cultural exchanges. Remember, the culture of Okinawa is filled with creative, thoughtful history. I know my sons were excited (when they were young) when I told them Okinawa was the birthplace of Karate. And the energetic Taiko drum dances have always fascinated so many people. Also, the energy and attractiveness of the Okinawan people is indeed a wonderful thing to behold!
I am giving you a great recipe for a delicious Okinawan dish below. It is a sweet rice cake.
Okinawan Famous Baked Nantu!
5 cups Mochiko
3 cups dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 and one-half cups coconut milk (1 can 12 oz.)(Thaw coconut milk before you make)
2 and one-half cups of water
1 tsp vanilla.

Mix all the ingredients together and put in greased 9 X 13 baking pan and bake for 1 hour at 350F. Leave in pan until it is cool.
# Bake until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
P.S. If you like, then add Sliced Almonds and Walnuts.
This makes it even more DELICIOUS!

Lee Morgan and fine Blue Note friends

Blue Note classic jazz recordings are a huge favorite of mine. This great Sunday I listened to a superb Lee Morgan work on Blue Note...the recording was called 'Candy.' This joyful so mod jazz music was perfect for my feisty mood, today. It had great work by the remarkable Lee Morgan on trumpet, Sonny Clark on piano, Doug Watkins on the bass and Art Taylor on the drums. The work of these guys is indicative of shiny, so truthful jazz music and the energy of the sounds is so engaging. On this fine set there was also a very big favorite ballad of mine...'All The Way.' This tune made famous by the incomparable Frank Sinatra has always captivated me. I remember the lovely film with Mr Sinatra...the one called 'Pal Joey.' People, this beautiful song 'All The Way' was in that unusual beauty of a film. It has so much poignancy and sensitive tone and it has always made a huge emotional impact on me. Today when I heard the so eloquent jazz piano solo on this thing it sent me off into a state of massive happiness! Also, the trumpet of masterful jazz man, Lee Morgan was full of such terrific appeal on Morgan and company's interpretation of this jazz beauty of a song. This has been a wonderful, emotional and gorgeous Sunday and I am such a happy man with a great soulful feeling going on in my being!

'Trombone Shorty' Serves Up Super Jazz

These times are so fantastic. Heard some great 'kickin' jazzy music late last night. The band was 'Trombone Shorty' and Orleans Avenue. They did profound renditions of the superb 'Let's Get It On' and 'American Woman' and the musicality of the fiery leader--'Trombone Shorty' Andrews and the terrific sound of his band guys...well, like this is WOW! This music is sensational. New Orleans people are marvelous! Hey, listen when young fellas like this can keep on bringin' the beautiful New Orleans music, then for sure we all got to remember those classic words.....'Life Is Good!'

The Wonderful Biscuit Woman

More memories today. Another story about my grandmother on my daddy's side. When I was about 10 years old living with summertime in my home town of Cairo, well let me tell you the heat was so strong it was hard to believe. That's how Southwest Georgia is. I would get up some energy some mornings about noon time cause I knew she would be cooking up some lunch. When I walked in the front door I could smell that GREAT AROMA....the smell of her fantastic biscuits was a terrific eating treat. After a little while my cousin Emmett (he loved her cooking, too) would show up and us boys and my grandmother and the great one my grandfather..well we would sit down at the old kitchen table and we would eat and eat and eat. Soon, the great lady brought out the mighty fine fried chicken and we would all gobble the delicious stuff down. But most wonderful of all were the biscuits. I have never seen a person know the meaning of downhome Southern culture like my delightful grandmother. It makes me a happy Georgia man indeed thinking of my heritage and meditating on the marvelous blood line that I come from.

My Grandmother.....her inspiring music!

Another blog on my grandmother on my daddy's side.....The tiny woman told me so many stories about how she played the old-style music on the ancient organ in her little church out in the country. I could just hear the vibrant organ music sounds coming from this so talented woman who played by ear because she could not read music. I know the reason I grew to love jazz and big blues music was because of this lovely little woman and her huge musical influence on me. It makes a person feel so good when a person of your blood really loves you....the really young boy. That's what this dear woman of my clan was to me. A lady who taught me how to have loads and loads of passion. That's why I care so much about life and art and music now. Let us all now praise the wonderful women of our lives.

My Grandmother...Bless her Soul!

Gonna write some blogs about my grandmother on my daddy's side. Here we go with one. Listen, the woman was very, very short and you better believe she spelled Southern culture with a big "C" and she was full of energy and lots of fun. I had no brothers and no sisters, cause I was one of those "poor things" in other words I was known as what the old folks called an "only child." In the summertime I went to visit my tiny grandmother a whole lot down in that old house in my home town of Cairo, Georgia which is believe me way down there in the southwest part of my state of Georgia. When I would walk from my daddy's store and go to visit the feisty old lady I suppose I was about 10 or 11. We'd sit out there on the old front porch just sweating like old pigs or hogs out there in that roughhouse scalding hot Southwest Georgia sun. The heat would just about slice a soul up cause it was rough as bloody crap. But I loved it because my grandmother would tell me old stories about how she ran off at the young age of 16 and married the thin man known as Thomas William White Sr. She told me wild stories about the crazy winter of 1899 when it was maddening and eerily cold for a town so deep down in the Georgia countryside. My grandmother on my daddy's side was a big believer in God and good gospel music. She'd get me to sing even when I was a little kid...and singing one of her favorite hymns...'The Old Rugged Cross' always made me smile. I realize now that I am a crusty veteran of many life experiences that I learned a lot sitting there on that wild hot front porch there in Cairo, Georgia. Lord,I figure I got swimming strong in such a deep tasty recipe of true Southern culture I was probably overwhelmed. Lots of times now the memories of my passionate grandmother well up in me when I get to thinking about this tiny woman who raised six big strong sons....well these kinds of memories are powerful indeed!

Slam Stewart, Red Garland: Good Jazz Guys

This is a tasty fun day so I listened to some old-style jazz swing guys. The man who brightened my day was the elegant bassist, Slam Stewart. In his career his style had such delicious exactness that it enchanted most everyone. I heard his rendition of the good tune called 'Manhattan' and things were so right! Also I heard the very grand jazz piano work of the marvelous Red Garland today. The man's a bit more of a modernist but the guy can make a keyboard come delightfully to life. Enjoyed the Red Garland work on the feisty tune, 'Billy Boy.' The great jazz work of Slam Stewart and Red Garland has made me truly smile today.

Brooke Anderson, Samantha Harris: Great!

Brooke Anderson and Samantha Harris are two of the most delightful new souls on entertainment news culture television. When I watch Samantha Harris on ET on the good ABC it just pleases me so much. The same is true for the marvelous Brooke Anderson on the HLN Showbiz fine show. It is good fun to keep up with the mighty shenanigans of pop stars on the two marvelous entertainment shows. There is something so sparkling and just incredible and super "hip" about viewing the incredible Samantha Harris and Brooke Anderson. They are two refreshing new shining light television stars, indeed!

Erskine Caldwell: A Georgia Author Giant!

This is a blog on a cultural Georgia treasure. Way back in late 1903 there was a man born in Coweta County, (now in metro Atlanta) Ga. by the name of Erskine Caldwell. The fellow great up to be a writer who had plenty of book sales savvy and much cultural impact on the distinct ethos that is the Deep South experience. He worked in Atlanta, Memphis, New Orleans and Lord knows how many other places. In 1925 he came to Atlanta and became a reporter for The Atlanta Journal. Years ago, I met a man who knew Mr. Caldwell quite well and he said E. Caldwell was a fascinating intellectual who truly understood the people of the Southern region of this country. In 1932 Erskine Caldwell came out with the mighty book called, 'Tobacco Road' and this work proved to be a remarkable literary juggernaut. It got deep into the souls and the raw passion that is the primal core of so many great Georgians. In 1933, Mr. Caldwell came out with another giant book success, 'God's Little Acre.' This thing gained the strong Mr. Caldwell even more success! 'Little Acre' is a wild story of a Georgia dirt farmer and all his people. It is full of a raw vigor that just vividly overwhelms the reader. In the late 1930s, Caldwell was a news correspondent in Spain, Mexico and Czechoslovakia. Two more Caldwell big novels came out soon. One in 1940 called, 'Trouble in July' and one in 1943 called 'Georgia Boy.' The fascinating aspect of Mr. Caldwell's work is the fact the man so beautifully earned his place as a great regional writer, a gentleman who could encapsulate the complex layers of the Deep South emotional experience and then bring this marvelous deep cultural world to life. Caldwell did for Georgia what the marvelous William Faulkner did for his area, the soulful 'Ole Miss' region. I stand amazed today knowing that I am a product of the very same beautiful state of Georgia, the place that produced a tremendously great man like Erskine Caldwell.

Paul Hemphill, an Atlanta Treasure!

Once upon a time there was a great writer in the Atlanta area, a man named Paul Hemphill. The guy came out of Alabama but he really seemed to dig the metro Atlanta area. He became a columnist for The Atlanta Journal and developed quite a following. Like me, my mother enjoyed his material also, saying he was like a blend of Caldwell, Faulkner and even Scott Fitzgerald. I remember the main thing that delighted me about the charismatic Mr. Hemphill was the fact he was able to capture the constant change that was happening in the Atlanta area and also for that matter the entire Deep South. I loved his books, also. Especially the material on baseball, Nashville and even later his great work on the mighty Hank Williams. It was a marvelous deal also that he snared the essence of great Atlanta Watering Holes like the magnificent Manuel's over on North Avenue and Highland. Paul Hemphill helped make The Atlanta Journal an interesting newspaper giving such great prose over and over to the Southern people.

Ben Webster produces provocative jazz

Wildly beautiful is perhaps the best way to describe the gorgeous sound of the elegant tenor saxophone. This particular Friday was interesting because something in my soul cavorted and allowed me to go looking for the beautiful jazz sounds of the immortal Ben Webster on the tenor. Yes, Ben Webster and the sleek and wondrous Coleman Hawkins are two of may favorite tenor men. But the key aspect is the engaging improvisatory sound of jazz that is the elegant jazz art perpetrated by Mr. Ben Webster, let me tell you people... the man has an amazing way of bringing the lovely tones of a jazz ballad smokingly to life. It is good in our lives to return to the vivid world that is the artful essence of mainstream jazz. Ben Webster and Coleman Hawkins had an uncanny gift for letting us have jazz music that engages our brains and indeed stimulates us so profoundly. It remains a grand gift....this thing we call jazz....because it blows beautiful musical experiences our way and the blue tones get so remarkable and refreshing.

Scott Pilgrim. Duke Jordan: Interesting Duo

American culture takes in so many rivers...they all pour lovingly into our soul awareness. We are not ego-niks, because we are searchers, trying to find true clear meaning. The vigor in the jazz music of the super piano man, Duke Jordan has been found by me, recently. This man had great work in the mighty early years with the poignant one, Charlie Parker. His sound is so very lyrical on that piano that is so moving you can feel the thing talking to you. On some of the Duke Jordan material I listened to recently he had the elegant fellow of the drums with him. The one and only Ed Thigpen. The guy knows beautifully how to get the musical job done. Duke Jordan was a man who developed a very revolutionary style. He got exposed at an early time in life to the music of Monk, Gillespie, Parker and the sleek piano fella, Bud Powell. His music even now just rears up and captivates you. Duke Jordan is a person of real style. Getting back to what I said when I started this piece, our present culture is just so cool, because we can enjoy innovative piano jazz and also brash, new engaging wild works, like Scott Pilgrim. I figure this Scott Pilgrim phenom is gonna really take off kind of like the great DiCaprio and the joyous 'Inception.' Let's give great applause for the wild new source of entertainment joy, the delightful Scott Pilgrim but also let's relish the glorious so revolutionary piano jazz music of the superb one....Duke Jordan.

Film Style People...Where Are You Now?

Some big style improvements in filmworld....Lord, they are needed now. The Mel Gibson stuff and the Lohan situation....well it has all been a bit much. What happened to the stylish kind of people. Folks like Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and Ann-Margret. Bring back manners and elegant style. Let us get a little couth going again in this splendid film arena of ours. It's time for a change. Less ego, more soul awareness to paraphrase Chopra.

Julianne, Carrie: Real Fun Music Women

Carrie Underwood (now married) and Julianne Hough are great talents. I enjoy their music because of its infectious high energy and it can make a person feel super-great! If there were more music folks like the stunning Julianne Hough and Carrie Underwood then all in the USA would be wonderful. Enjoy the wild, happy music of Carrie Underwood and Julianne Hough today. Feel Good!

Excuse Me for Print Twice Action

Excuse me, everyone. Modern technology got me or maybe my computer. Last blog (July 10) printed twice. Maybe Ray Bradbury, R. Heinlein and George Orwell have resurfaced. Nothing like contemporary technology. Again, excuse this glitch everyone. F.

'Pink Panther' and 'Gunn' so full of style!

Great afternoon, people. Wanted wild strong jazz...took the plunge. I listened to the magnificent "cool" mainstream jazz classic, Henry Mancini's 'Pink Panther Theme.' This great composition put a lot of great memories swirling inside me. The music just naturally rocks and the strength of the big saxophone sound and the power of the jazz trumpets is so sparkly and infectious. I especially find the shrewd styling of trumpet guys,Pete and Conti Candoli truly outstanding on this Mancini classic tune. Also, I listened to the engaging and delightfully swingin' 'Theme from Peter Gunn.' The Gunn theme always reminded me a bit of early Stan Kenton with those high-sounding trumpet sheets of sound and exuberant and brilliantly cascading saxes with their creative fiery elegance. This Henry Mancini is a man who could craft real musical gems and WOW...his music still rocks today. The sound of jazz power is a marvelous thing!

'Pink Panther' and 'Gunn' so full of style!

Great afternoon, people. Wanted wild strong jazz...took the plunge. I listened to the magnificent "cool" mainstream jazz classic, Henry Mancini's 'Pink Panther Theme.' This great composition put a lot of great memories swirling inside me. The music just naturally rocks and the strength of the big saxophone sound and the power of the jazz trumpets is so sparkly and infectious. I especially find the shrewd styling of trumpet guys,Pete and Conti Candoli truly outstanding on this Mancini classic tune. Also, I listened to the engaging and delightfully swingin' 'Theme from Peter Gunn.' The Gunn theme always reminded me a bit of early Stan Kenton with those high-sounding trumpet sheets of sound and exuberant and brilliantly cascading saxes with their creative fiery elegance. This Henry Mancini is a man who could craft real musical gems and WOW...his music still rocks today. The sound of jazz power is a marvelous thing!

Shakira, Katy Perry: Energetic Fun Music

Hot, but big fun day going now. Listened to the great high energy soul, Shakira today. What a super fine high-velocity fab singer. Another one that's fun....the unique Katy Perry. That one also has the unique idea bits down well. It is a superb Wednesday. Max fun and yes listening to good Shakira and Katy Perry...well it's so fine to have a super time on a boiling day in magnificent, grand July! Pop culture is a remarkable fun mode!

Happy July 4th to Each and Every One of Us!

Happy July Fourth! This is a magnificent day in American culture. It is important because it is indeed Independence Day. I have so many wonderful memories of July 4th.

As a man of Georgia my people taught me early how to love country and be kind and proud but most of all have a lot of passion in everything you do. My Dad and my Mother would always cook up good hot dogs or burgers or barbecue and as a child I loved all the noisy fireworks and sparklers and all the happy fun times. As a father, I loved seeing my two sons and the happiness given on the magnificent day that is July 4th. The culture of we Americans is enriched with so many super things, our music, our big parades, our art...all of these elements of the fabric of our society are so laced with true meaning. And as a young man overseas I remember the times with fellow service people as we celebrated the 4th in foreign lands.

This is a great day. Let us all reflect on the joys that our freedom really means!

Modern Jazz Quartet guys fascinate all of us

Grand and so exciting and yes beautiful jazz music moments. Yes, that sums up the joy that is listening to The Modern Jazz Quartet. I listened to their linear, melodious sounds today on this cheerful Saturday before the great joyfulness that is July 4th. I confess hearing the two good jazz standards, 'Django' and 'Round Midnight" were some marvelous listening times. I remember how happy I was hearing the engaging piano work of the creative John Lewis on piano and also it was fascinating hearing the grand vibes playing of the one and only Milt Jackson. This is what jazz is all about because you can tell when you hear the two fine guys--John Lewis and Milt Jackson--well they know so well how to make their improvisations sail across the bridges that are the music's measures. Their music is like seeing burnished gold leaf in an old-time picture frame shop. I love the grand sound that is jazz and I certainly love the superb music of The Modern Jazz Quartet. Enjoy this good Holiday weekend!

Chuck Berry: A party time real 'Rocker!'

I felt great today so I just had to give a listen to the mighty man, Chuck Berry. There is no doubt this man knows how to rock out with some kickin' so "hip" music. And his guitar style is so electrifying he makes you want to get off your butt and dance yourself crazy just over and over. I used to have a lot of fun in that great music town, Athens, Georgia and believe me Chuck Berry and the powerhouse music man James Brown were big parts of the soul experience going on here in the magnificent rockin' state that is Georgia. Today, I listened once again to Chuck Berry do songs like 'Johnny B. Goode' and 'Reelin and Rockin' and man let me tell you people...All was right with the world. Let's all give a good shout out for this great Friday.. Let's enjoy our memories of the magical music men James Brown and the one and only Chuck Berry.

A Truly Big Happy Father's Day!

A giant Happy Father's Day to all the Dads, Big Daddies, Fathers and all the guys out there. This is a tremendously important day in this country and especially here in Georgia.

I have been thinking about my Daddy today. He was a guy who ran a store. That was his thing. For a while he was in the jewelry business, then he got into picture framing and then finally he was in antique furniture and picture framing together. He was an incredibly hard worker just like all the men in our family. He inspired me over and over because of his very strong work ethic. He taught me the importance of what we southern people call blood. There were echoes of the wisdom of Faulkner and Caldwell in his comprehensive mind set. Faulkner and Caldwell had soul. I remember as a kid watching the customers and I had a tear in my eye because I could see the real respect they had for my father. They knew he would treat them right.

There is something extremely beautiful about the culture of the men of the south. My Daddy was a believer in having a lot of heart and a lot of passion in everything that you do. He maintained this fascinating sense of a guy with a good heart right up until the end when he finally passed in a nursing home in 2007. I know how to love life and enjoy my blessings because of all the meaningful and loving experiences my Daddy gave me. He made me feel good about myself and he made me feel great about the fact that I am a man from Georgia. Take care all you Dads, Sons and Daughters out there!

'Harry Brown' filled with wild emotions

A new film in my area has compelled me to express wonder at how such virulent realism can be so artfully brought to the screen. Michael Caine is the lead in 'Harry Brown' which is a story filled with a tough, edgy harshness that virtually overwhelms members of the audience. In this tale Michael Caine plays the part of an older British man (Harry Brown) on a pension and the most beguiling thing about this cinematic production is the strong-minded way Caine's character copes with his very harrowing environment. There are numerous tough youths who lurk in his area. The saga starts up vigorously when one of Caine's old-guy friends, Leonard Attwell, is done away with. The police start an intense investigation checking on the indefatigable Harry Brown and others. A good duo of acting pros, Emily Mortimer (as D.I. Alice Frampton) and Charlie Creed-Miles (as D.S. Terry Hicock) brought a lot of heady, gritty good realistic zest to the picaresque story. In the way that the film focuses on older people and how they deal with the horrors of modern life the sense of being intensely mesmerized is quite prevalent. Indeed this thing is not just the average story. The feeling one has is that this is sort of like the hard-toned film that was Clint Eastwood's achievement in 'Gran Torino' and yet in so many ways this British artistic work is much more of a profound statement about anguish and difficult and tough ways to deal with the complex realism that confronts us all in modern life. Amazing is the only way to adequately describe the fine-etched dramatic fervor that Michael Caine's performance as Harry Brown represents. Emily Mortimer produces a characterization of infinite compelling dramatic style that is so scintillating for the cinematic enthusiast to get engulfed in. The harshness of contemporary society is interpreted with great skill in this work. The director, Daniel Barber, has put together quite a panorama of performances in this film because much like great British theatrical works (witness John Osborne's, 'Look Back in Anger' for example)there is a tough mood of emotional rawness that is obviously the same kind of creaking muscles that all of us possess trying to deal with the myriad of rigorous realities that comprise the complexities of our difficult modern circumstances. I had an eery feeling watching this film for there seemed to be some of the difficult sensual and vile dramatic fabric that some of the early tough writings of Truman Capote possessed. Again, 'Harry Brown' is quite a film and the top appeal of the story is the well-honed performance of the very clever Mr. Michael Caine.

Raw, hot music makes you a wild one

Music that reaches out and in a raw husky way just grabs you close...well, that's the music one remembers. It amazes me how great blues artists can imbed themselves in your memory. These people create a raw, visceral mood that is so overwhelming. It's almost like you had too many steaks or too many fries. One of these fine, superhuman blues beings is the very memorable Freddie King. His sounds have got a tough-guy smokin' sense of drive that compels one to get dizzy with all the vigor and the intense huge emotions. He was a Texas guy but went on up to Chicago when he was really young. Other famed great ones like T-Bone Walker and Otis Rush had a giant impact on Freddie King and his swingin' style. Eric Clapton liked the power of Freddie King, also. Eric Clapton sure is a mighty artist, himself. I listened to Freddie King doing a bristling, hot version of the old popular powerhouse song, 'Hideaway' today. It was so full of a sleek sense of swing and hard-driving fun. The man, Freddie King, is a truly significant part of the historic blues tradition in this country. And yes, we are all blessed because of the magic of Freddie King.

Blues man Luther Allison socks it to us!

Luther Allison is a somethin' else electric blues master. Oh, my, my. Good grief! What a profound genius. I heard him today and it was so wild, cuz the man honestly blew me away. He has music that's so potent, so powerful. I tell you listening to the feisty Luther Allison in the 'Live in Paris' album was tremendously dynamic. This man from Chicago has an amazing ability to really make the big blues happen. His guitar work and that muscle kind of a voice...well all that blend of joyful music just produces a sensational kind of ribald and I mean whoopee-good gigantic blues experience. My two favorite songs on this particular set were the super song from way back, 'My Babe' and also the incredible and so sly song, a number called 'Crazy Jealous.' What is this mysterious brand of music we call the Blues? It is hard to really encapsulate... all the fierce angst and raw emotion that are part of the good recipe in kickin' and meaningful bold Blues music. But men like the strong guy Luther Allison can certainly get the job done. I figure another icon who has the ability to make us want to jump up and dance the wild thing---the fantastic Buddy Guy---well he also can sure get the job done right. When you hear the muscular, edgy music of Luther Allison and also the sleekly clever Buddy Guy, well then it sends you off on a great kickin' trip into a vivid profound musical journey of good whoop-it-up experiences. Great BLUES can surely fix a soul up just right. It makes the whole core of the human just tingle in a maddening, delightfully superior way!

Happy little things tickle my fancy!

Little things in our contemporary culture are fun. I watch a lot of Italian films. I love the clever cinematic art of Fellini and Visconti. Also I go for certain kinds of esoteric foods. For example, I eat a gigantic amount of SPAM. I went to Japan one time and I ate such a gigantic amount of the stuff. Some folks I was with got chuckling loudly because they couldn't figure why I was not into good old sushi and some of the other "hip' foods, but I said listen I just love SPAM. Oh and another thing I go for happens to be Marvel and DC comics. It strikes me that the wild art work in Marvel and DC represents such a huge amount of laugh-out-loud fun and whoop it up good times. Let's not get into too many hang-ups in our little worlds. Let's have fun, people. OK?

Mr. Burrell, a guitar man with focused style

Kenny Burrell is one of my favorite jazz guitarists. His music literally crackles with excitement and intensity. His sense of style is focused and very sharp and in many ways I derive a big serving of joy delving into Kenny Burrell's music. I feel so great just like I feel when I experience a grand film performance by the dynamic one...of course I mean the one and only Mickey Rourke. Our friend Kenny Burrell flies effortlessly across the bridges of his improvisatory solos and it engulfs my brain in so many joyous remarkable ways. The grand album I heard this evening was one called, 'Then Along Came Kenny.' On this set Burrell was backed up by James Williams on piano, Peter Washington on bass and the sizzling man on the drums, one Sherman Ferguson. I know when I listen to fine jazz my inner soul is touched and entranced sort of like the magnificent feeling I receive when I view a Luchino Visconti or Federico Fellini film. In this fine Burrell set my favorite number (by far) was the fascinating bop classic 'Yardbird Suite' by the genius of the alto saxophone, Charlie Parker.

Salute Folks on Memorial Day!

Today is Memorial Day and I am thinking about what this special day means to me. Once upon a time I was in the U.S. Air Force working in information, in other words I was a desk man what they used to call Category 3, non-flying. Anyway I met some fine individuals when I was in the service. Most all of these people were so "real" and not heavy laden with thin coatings of what one might call the artificial. Today I had to go to the airport here in Atlanta and I saw a lot of young men and women in uniform and it brought back a lot of memories. One great thing I saw was the fact of when some of the soldiers came up the escalator there were numerous volunteers who suddenly started clapping and welcomed these people back to their country. This had deep meaning for me. I appreciate the sacrifices these people have made. Let us think in a good kind way right now on this thing they call Memorial Day. To paraphrase James Agee, "Let us all praise great men."

Diana Krall, Don DeLillo: Super Souls!

Diana Krall is the kind of modern vocalist who really knows how to frame a song. It is difficult to produce a sensitive, compelling and yes perhaps remarkable interpretation of a tune. However, Diana Krall makes the exciting process sound so smooth and virtually effortless. It is a superb thing also that she has a skillful sense of keyboard style but again her ways with grand vocal standards are so unique and sensual and sensitive. This cheery Tuesday with all its glorious joys and up times was indeed fabulous. But believe me the fact that I listened to Diana Krall today really helped the crafty codger known as me out in a huge way. Krall sings, 'Fly me to the Moon' and I am right there. NASA would love the Krall moon interpretation. The music of Diana Krall reminds me of the delightful sensory sensations of reading the highly skilled fiction artist, the incomparable Don DeLillo who really knows how to engage us with decisive, vigorous word magic. The first time I read the superior book, 'Underworld' by the amazing Don DeLillo it did indeed send me into tremendous intellectual delight. The man, DeLillo knows well how to work very hard and come up with what is a very great story. Well, in another cultural universe, Diana Krall also knows how to conjure up some fascinating musical art. What a grand and glorious day this Tuesday has been!

Atlanta Okinawa Kenjin-Kai Big Anniversary

This is a Sunday culture blog, people. Yesterday was a great experience. We had the celebratory 25th anniversary of Atlanta Okinawa Kenjin-Kai event at a church location in Gwinnett County, Ga, A huge crowd of folks from all over came and the cultural event celebrating the interesting cultural dynamics of the Okinawan people proved to be a fun time for all the celebrants who came to the event. There was a tremendous number of traditional dances, taiko drum groups and just all kinds of super performers. The people of Okinawa have marvelous personalities and they are so friendly and a lot of fun to be with. It is great for the Metro Atlanta community to have unique cultural activities that interpret the vigorous joys of numerous multi-cultural experiences and modes of expression. All folks had a great time at this very happy May 22 event. The Lord bless the wonderful times that we all have in the so happening Metro Atlanta area.

Perkins and Kamuca: 2 swingin' Tenorists

The speed and cleverness of good West Coast tenor saxophone guys is engaging. It is remarkable how their kind of jazz lifts us people who respond to fine music. The lilting and compelling sounds of two great tenor sax guys, Bill Perkins and Richie Kamuca were what I listened to this afternoon. And it was a fun experience. The big boss sounds of the crafty Bill Perkins and the sleek Richie Kamuca made me feel truly great. Two standards in this set were just right for me today. Yeah, I liked, 'All of Me and 'Sweet and Lovely.' The bass work of Red Mitchell and the vigorous and interesting drumming of Mel Lewis was a lot of fun, too. Enjoy your great Friday night and have a blast of a weekend all of you out there.

World cultures in need of some soothing

Many of the world's cultures are becoming more and more fragmented and so confusing. The recent election situation in Great Britain, the weird economic oddity that is happening in Greece and the rambunctious situation in Thailand are all examples of worlds much like ours that are running off the sides of the road as some pundits might put it. In many ways this is a shame. We all need good vigorous countries that have a good handle on how to run things. Also, we need governmental bodies that have a good comprehension of how to really connect with the people. So much beautiful art, music, dance and other great modes of the modern cultural ethos have come out of Great Britain, Greece and Thailand. Yours truly is in hopes that there can be a soothing of the world's brows so to speak and peaceful getting along can come into fashion again.

Pianist Hank Jones passes at 91

A great man passed away today. The wonderful man of jazz piano, Hank Jones, left us at the age of 91. He was a powerful force in music for about seven decades. Also, he worked with some superstars like John Coltrane and Ella Fitzgerald. We all will truly miss this legendary performer.

'Iron Man 2' rocks out and swings hard!

Had a "cool" day yesterday. Saw the marvelous new fun film, 'Iron Man 2' and it made me so tickled. The thing had plenty of old-style rock-em, sock-em wild stuff. I especially enjoyed the truly superb performances of the wily Robert Downey Jr. and the strong fellow, Mickey Rourke. When you get a tough, intense stand-off in a cinematic story the experience can prove remarkable. I liked the way Robert Downey Jr and Mickey Rourke square off in this one. Also, there is the matter of the women....Yes, the good performances of the delightful Scarlet Johansson and the lovely G. Paltrow are lots of fun for the moviegoer. They are stunning. Fascinating. The crafty and slick workouts our buddy, director Jon Favreau, did on this project are intensely remarkable. I really recommend this film because the story really cracks right along and makes an individual smile. Yeah, enjoy the IRONMAN everybody.

Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Mr. Roth

So many memories do I have when it comes to the sometimes confusing instrument that is the saxophone. When I was a real young guy I started trying to learn how to play that pesky nemesis that is the saxophone, but like a truly brash kid I opted for the tenor saxophone also telling myself I liked the tenor's big sound. I worked and worked but I had a dickens of a time trying to learn all the fingerings and most of all I had a teacher who believed in pounding into folks the importance of tone. I worked and huffed and prayed and moaned and then tried harder and harder. Finally I started to get the hang of it and started playing in a group with some friends on guitar and a mighty fine drummer guy who was one year older than me. Man, he could really kick it on those skins. Well, what I am leading up to is the fact I have a passionate respect for the really boss great tenor s. men like Sonny Rollins and the man of such fantastic jazz soul the one and only John Coltrane. When an individual listens to the super guys, Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane it is a magnificent total joy. Today yours truly listened to a vivid sparkling Sonny Rollins rendition of the superior jazz tune, 'St. Thomas.' I just totally love the composition, 'St. Thomas' cause it has such a magnificent kickin' good feeling to it. On this Rollins workout there was also the fascinating keyboard work of the man of deep poignancy, Tommy Flanagan and there was also the tasteful but certainly appropriately feisty work of the sensational Max Roach on drums. What a fine super Friday this is everyone. When I get back to the great gigantic jazz sounds of the tenor saxophone then I feel the same way as when I read a multi-layered work by the brilliant Mr. Philip Roth. Magnificent that is Philip Roth. Saxophones and Roth...what a wonderful world this is as Louis A. used to say.

Hey, Everyone.....Happy Mother's Day!

A fantastic Happy Mother's Day to everyone! It has been a superb, so gorgeous day in my portion of the country, the great place that is known as Metro Atlanta. Son, daughter-in-law and son's two daughters invited us for a truly grand lunch today. Felt so magnificent when the girls showed me some of their marvelous art they had created in school. It is so fine when one realizes the young ones are getting into the splendid world of art just like yours truly. Perhaps, the remarkable scenarios of youthful Georgia O'Keefe and Pablo Picasso and of course Salvador Dali and Joan Miro will soon be theirs. Georgia O'Keefe is a grand joy. It is a good, enthralling essence this portion of our Southern cultural infrastructure that assists us in revving up the excitement and getting in there and truly enjoying Mother's Day. When I was a boy my grandfather and my father and mother took me to church and I will always remember seeing the proud men in their white shirts wearing the red flowers (mother living) and the white flowers (mother deceased). The culture of the South teaches us the intrinsic value and the deep passion that is an integral part of us and our relationship to our mothers and of course to our fathers, too. Indeed the great Atlanta newspaper columnist Celestine Sibley (a marvelous genius of a woman) used to write often about the delightful times with her mother, the one she called, "Muv." I recall many conversations I had with the grand one, the poignant and passionate Celestine Sibley. She taught me great things, like learning how to be good to all people and reaching out to everyone and yes, be friendly with everyone. Indeed Mother's Day is a day of wonderful love and passion and in a definitive sense it brings so much rich soulful flavor into our lives kind of like realizing the fresh, invigorating joy of encountering Mark Rothko or Alexander Calder art. Happiness is filling me up today and I am so tickled with the fact this has been a truly great Mother's Day. The Lord bless you all!

'House Across the Bay' is a real film delight

'The House Across the Bay' is a superior 1940 film with the incomparable George Raft and the very fine Joan Bennett. I saw this one recently and I say the thing really charmed me. It is a strong drama about a gangster (George Raft) who overplays his hand and gets himself in prison. Naturally because of the love of the woman, Brenda Bentley (Joan Bennett) she takes an apartment across the bay in San Francisco because she wants closeness with him. The dramatic work of Raft and Bennett is quite remarkable. Also, the very distinguished Walter Pidgeon is an aircraft business man in this film. Pidgeon is powerfully attracted to the woman Brenda Bentley, also. Indeed, Walter Pidgeon personifies maximun sophistication. I find delightful the way the film sweeps right along and it is good there is very little prattle dialogue to slow down the story. George Raft is not a tall man, but wow! he projects a lot of dramatic energy and strength.

M. Haggard, W. Nelson: 2 Great Ones

Surprise! I like country music, too. Especially, the rough-hewn kind. My friends might find it hard to believe but I just truly dig Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. Lord when I heard Merle Haggard do 'Okie' today it was just right. Then, when Willie Nelson did 'Stardust' well Lord, that was so fine, too. I get the feeling that country music is moving on up what with CMT really picking up steam. Oh me, oh my...the Lord bless Mr. Haggard and Mr. Nelson.

Atlanta Hawks Fly So High Today!

Pro basketball is a vital and so integral part of our Metro Atlanta culture. And this afternoon a great thing happened. What a super playoff game! The mighty Atlanta Hawks played fantastically and defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 95-74. Congrats to Coach Mike Woodson and all the great guys like Josh Smith, Jamal Crawford, Mike Bibby and well just this whole team of great guys. This win has made me so happy!

Vietnam remembered

I noticed something earlier today. Today is the 35th anniversary of the fact of the Vietnam War ending. It (that war) had a gigantic impact on our American culture. I remember hearing friends talking about Khe Sanh and some of the other battles. The powerful passion that is Vietnam permeates so many layers of our cultural infrastructure. Films like, 'The Deer Hunter' had so much meaning for me. Indeed, Christopher Walken and Robert DeNiro were overwhelming in that great movie.

The Robust Tenor Sax of 'Lockjaw' Davis

Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis is one of my favorite powerhouse tenor saxophone people. The man has music with so much muscle and also his material packs a tremendous sense of swing. Today, I got back into his music and his sound was so fresh and robust. His backup guys were the master, Oscar Peterson on piano, The profound Ray Brown on bass and a good and feisty Jimmie Smith on the drums. My favorite tunes in this particular set were, 'This Can't Be Love' and a clever number, 'I wished on the Moon.' Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis and the incredible Oscar Peterson on the piano....man, what marvelous music!

Cannonball Adderley produces great jazz art

Cannonball Adderley is a strong man of the alto saxophone. Lord, yes. His classic tunes like the mighty, 'Work Song' and the wily 'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy' are two of my great favorites. The heavy dash of blues style that reaches out to you from that great alto sax of his is so intense. The composition, 'Work Song' (written by Cannonball Adderley's brother Nat, a fine cornet man) sends me into total delight. As a southern man like me might say, the tune has plenty of get up and get. A jazz workout by the Adderley men sends me up into a great musical groove as the sixties characters might put it. I figure digging Cannonball Adderley and Nat Adderley is a little bit like viewing a fine set of performances by two dramatic giants like Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. Really profound performances can be very fulfilling. DeNiro and Pacino are clever and "hip" and so are the good Adderley brothers.

Terence Blanchard: Musical Cleverist!

Acerbic, beguiling and somewhat clever. The attributes are a part of the appeal of jazz trumpeter, Terence Blanchard. His sound is distinct and rather unique in its crafty modernism. His album, "Wandering Moon' has several fun compositions that snare one and allow one good intense listening fun. Two tunes ...'Sweet's Dream' and 'I Thought about You' are especially interesting. Also, in this set his group is strong. I love the smart, remarkable work of Branford Marsalis on tenor saxophone. Another individual with a sharp performance in this time out is Dave Holland on the bass. His rock-solid work helps cement the total jazz experience. I feel this cornucopia of fresh sounds reminds one of reading the action hero stuff that maybe we read as a kid. Like what happened to me when I used to read the goings-on of the DC comics and the Marvel comics bunch. The gleeful times of enjoying the brash art and words of DC and Marvel...well that's fun for sure. Clever trumpet jazz is the thing that puts a big, choice smile on my face.

McCoy Tyner, Charles Mingus: Feisty Jazz!

McCoy Tyner is such an always bright shiny gentleman of the jazz piano veterans. He has so much modernism in his improv solos. The guy is a giant delight. I listened to him today and felt so refreshed. Also, I got into real focused listening to the incredible big band sounds of the magnificent Charles Mingus, the master impresario on the bass. I feel McCoy Tyner and Charles Mingus are so strong, yes full of artistic impact on the musical world around them. What a powerful joy it is to listen to Tyner and Mingus.

Kate Gosselin, Erin Andrews: A Unique Duo

Kate Gosselin is a happening thing now in our pop culture. The single mom has done a good job on 'Dancing With The Stars' and it is fine how she is trying hard to provide for her children. It is interesting how the fan base for Kate Gosselin is quite large. It is also of interest that tv shows like Entertainment Tonight have her on their show, also. I find it unique that Erin Andrews is becoming a major culture woman, as well. Our American culture gets more intricate all the time with these new variables that are happening. Kate Gosselin is a unique person and of course Erin Andrews certainly is also. Enjoy our very clever popular culture everyone.

'The Notebook' and the good man, N. Sparks

'The Notebook' is one of my favorite books. The author, Nicholas Sparks, knows how to put together a real good story. Some people think the prose of Nicholas Sparks is entirely too romantic. I don't agree because the fact is that his books are full of the intense "realness" that is a firm part of all our lives. I like his other books also. Especially, 'The Last Song' and 'Dear John.' Some thinkers feel it is not "cool" to like writers who have gained huge success. That's a lot of bull. There's nothing wrong with having a good time with a satisfying read like the marvelous Nicholas Sparks creates. I always enjoy a good John Grisham, too. And it amuses me that some sophisticates want to put down John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks. But let's all remember Sparks and Grisham know the fine formula for putting a good novel together. And that's wonderful. Let's think on Miley Cyrus, a good entertainment business person. Miley Cyrus and other people of the film world appreciate the stories of Nicholas Sparks and John Grisham. It always amazes me when I go into book stores how many women especially go looking for the latest Nicholas Sparks books. That's "cool." I know that it brings a lot of happiness into people's lives, especially getting a good cry from a well-done story like 'The Notebook.'

Smooth Jazz, Les Paul....Great Fun Today!

Smooth jazz can be so healing. Like So Elegant! Soothes the brain, so perfectly. I got into listening again to a marvelously inventive guitarist today, the great Les Paul. His style is so delightful in the sense he uses looping linear lines that slip effortlessly into the structures of so-clever jazz chromatic improvisational breakthroughs. He wows me with the great way he makes superb guitar innovation sound so smooth and easy. What a listener's delight. Today, I also got into sleek, good work from the clever guitar style fine-fellas, Russell Malone and Grant Green. It was so marvelous this afternoon with those grand guitar sounds bringing the healing magic of Smooth Jazz to life. Topped off the fun with sleek, listening happiness brought to me by the marvelous vocal tones of the magnificent, Diana Krall. What a wonderful Wednesday this is!

Ah, the engaging joys of cultural happiness!

Culture slams us with a clever shock to the system. If you are like me you go rolling along with all the errands and the minuscule stuff and then you get up and read some Gustave Flaubert or A. Rimbaud or perhaps Arthur Miller or the crafty Henry Miller. And Whap, Bam, POW!!! Like a wild one in a graphic novel, the old brain of yours is nailed down strong by the slashing energy of a profoundly profane and yes delightful cultural maelstrom. I enjoy the shrewd literary achievement that is so prevalent in all the "furniture" of the works of the French master, Gustave Flaubert. And the bright, perplexing and delicious provocative joy that is inherent in the poetic, virile angst of A. Rimbaud is also a remarkable sense of joyful, heh, heh, brain food. One friend used to kid me when he learned I listened to Mahler to relax. He figured I was way intense. Well, Lord I am intense but that is why I enjoy and so passionately appreciate the intense souls of good culture I have come across in my reading. When you read Henry Miller and his merry 'Tropic' tomes and of course when you read the bright and brash, soulful plays of the wild playwright master, Arthur Miller....Then you know your brain has gone on into a new sphere and you have gained some wondrous nirvana that is so tremendously satisfying to one's appetite much like the incredible films of the great Japanese film maker, Akira Kurosawa. I confess when I first saw the intense, highly complex film of Akira Kurosawa -- 'Rashomon'-- it indeed blew me away with its multi-layered vistas of deep cinematic meaning. Also, when I enjoyed the modern film take of Kurosawa, the one called 'Yojimbo' it got me really going intellectually for it was loaded with so many definitive dimensions of vivid power. I am trying to say that the cumulative impact of multi-dimensional culture is a remarkable ingredient in a soul-driven recipe to energize our lives.

Rauschenberg's art filled with 60s' fire, ice!

Robert Rauschenberg is a remarkable artist that I have rediscovered all over again. He is linked into the bizarre mechanism that was the 1960s experience. If you study the complexity of Rauschenberg's art you find evidence of a tremendously educated man, indeed a person who was able to ride the cultural wave and dig deep into displaying the wild nuances that were an integral part of the 60s experience. Perhaps a key in Robert Rauschenberg's arcane thinking was the fact he somehow drew a different batch of art enthusiasts into the coterie of his followers. He had a vivid palette of all kinds of clever people who got in on the ground floor with the wise Mr.R. Socialites, unionists, groupies...yes many sorts of souls learned to enjoy the feisty art of Robert Rauschenberg. In many ways he and another chic man, the famed Andy Warhol were able to bring on a dramatic and fresh futuristic, neo-modernism that engulfs the viewer sort of sending the art person off into a new sphere sort of tricky, glorious territory out way past the crafty and also enchanting arena of one Salvador Dali. Some pseudo-folks figured out the travail of Rauschenberg was the fact the man had too much popular success. That must have been a bitter pill. It is so odd that the nihilist pseudo-intellectuals among us always have to put down a great artist with vivid vision. Why can't these grand souls have the Holy Grail, in other words popular success. I feel that the exciting aspect of Robert Rauschenberg's achievement is the fact he was able to move unafraid on past the people of the forties and fifties. He set up a new art mechanism for the brain that because of its brash cleverness is a superlative achievement, indeed. Rauschenberg and Warhol gave us new art vistas that literally hum with new philosophical chords that are tremendously exciting in their own way.

This Is A Truly Fantastic, Great Easter!

This day has been so beautiful. Went to my son's house in Midtown Atlanta and had a marvelous Easter lunch. I love Easter because I'm so thankful for all the fine things that have come my way. I figure this Easter is the best one of all because I got some good medical reports and wow that made me glad. I enjoyed my church's music today. There were two guest trumpet players. One man is a trumpet mainstay with the Chicago Symphony and the other man is with the Boston Symphony. The trumpet music was very remarkable. It has been a great one this beautiful day in Metro Atlanta. Hope all of you out there had a wonderful day, too. Happy Easter, Everyone!

Art Pepper's Saxophone Spices Up Saturday

Listened to some great jazz on this Saturday before the beautiful day that is Easter. I enjoyed the great, inspiring saxophone work of the fine performer, Art Pepper. The man can coax some splendid sounds out of the alto saxophone. This set that I dug was the exciting 'Art Pepper Meets the Rhythm Section.' On this group of selections Pepper was joined by Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on the bass and the feisty Philly Joe Jones on drums. Plenty of good compositions in this batch but my favorite was a smokin' tune called 'Red Pepper Blues' which the guys really swung hard. I find the clever, bit edgy style of Art Pepper so satisfying. Also, there are very few folks who vamp it up real good like the masterful Red Garland on piano. Potent jazz sounds can be so refreshing and they also can rejuvenate one from head to toe. What a great day this has been in the beautiful world that is metro Atlanta.

Passionate Art Injects Thrills in Us All

Paintings are a wonderful release, a means of gaining so much true joy. I learned the news that my cousin had some of his paintings in an art show down in Bainbridge, Georgia this week. Bainbridge is a beautiful Georgia community. I am so proud of this great guy, my cousin, because I also found out he got a third place ribbon in this show. Exquisite is the best word to explain the thrill of meaningful art. Whether you love the timeless work of art giants like Whistler, Chagall, Grandma Moses, Rothko, Picasso, Gottlieb, Warhol or the magnificent Robert Rauschenberg...no matter; the most important detail to remember is ask yourself what brings you happiness and then as an Air Force buddy of mine used to say "go for it." I have been meditating a lot lately. I am enthralled with the gigantic lyrical work of the great Deepak Chopra when he talks about releasing the boundaries of the soul. Yes all of us have a crying need to jump over the inane, indeed crass intellectual boundaries we place on ourselves. The true joy of grand, powerful art is the way it can get us to truly soar over the mundane aspects that might be trying to stifle our great emotionalism. We have to do as my great cousin, the marvelous Ed White of Bainbridge did and we can show our talent as artists and thinkers who love the joy of life. Lord, let us all give a giant shoutout for the world of art, yes the great ones like Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Picasso and Chagall.

Jennifer Aniston, Gerard Butler: Fun Times

Last Saturday was fun. There are times I like to have "no-think" experiences. That's what happened to me on Saturday, because it was a "whoop-it-up" Gerard Butler and Jennifer Aniston event. I saw the new film called, 'The Bounty Hunter.' It was a real wild and so funny kind of film. I got a kick out of all the raw, comic shenanigans. The idea of the high-voltage Gerard Butler chasing the chic Jennifer Aniston (Butler's ex-wife in the story) was a shiny, hilarious yarn as the old pundits might put it. There is no question: Jennifer Aniston has gigantic star power. She lights everything up and she looks good all the time. Her appeal is strong, indeed she kind of reminds me of the clever Natalie Wood. And the great Scot, Gerard Butler, has an engaging film charm that reminds one of another merry Scot, the one and only Sean Connery. Aniston is a reporter in the story and having had many experiences in the media business I can attest to the fact the engaging personality of Ms. Jennifer really brings her character to life in a buoyant zesty way. Also, the wily Gerard Butler as an ex-cop gone bounty hunter is a super trip, yes indeed! It is a good thing to see a wacky joyful film like 'Bounty Hunter' sometimes. It can make your day leave a real good taste. A fun time, ladies and gentlemen.

Nicholas Payton Kicks in Raw Power

Nicholas Payton, Nicholas Payton! Lord, the man is one super fantastic trumpet player. The guy knows how to make his horn really bring down the house. Gigantic, innovative and full of superior thinking man's jazz. That's what this guy's style does to us. His musical thinking is so remarkable. You listen and right away you feel ten thousand times better. I listened to an exciting Nicolas Payton and friends performance of the legendary Milt Jackson composition, 'Bags Groove' today. The straight ahead raw power of the jazz was so feisty and Lord so profound. I love the musical art of Milt Jackson, too. In so many ways the great guy of the vibes has such deep classic passion and acerbic intellectualism that I admit the palette of overall sounds truly enraptures me. The great music of Milt Jackson and the MJQ just made me so happy when I was a young guy cutting my teeth on the exciting music that is jazz. The interesting element of greatness that is found in the fascinating music of Nicholas Payton is the fact there appears to be an engaging sense of romanticism in his highly developed improvisatory lines. Yet, there is also in Payton's work a visceral raw and right-on emotionalism. This makes for a fine recipe of jazz happiness, indeed!

James Cagney rough guy stuff is so clever

Nothing quite like an old-style gangster film. Nothing quite like the brilliant acting of a clever genius named James Cagney. The truth is James Cagney filled a screen with his tough, edgy brand of style and he connected with his audience in a profound way. The other evening I watched a superior release called 'White Heat.' This wild film had jolting excitement and also there were imaginative performances by Virginia Mayo and the crafty Edmond O'Brien. In my way of thinking when you watch a strong performance from staunch individualists like Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien and James Cagney then it means a sphere a long way past the arcane world of LOL and that all is well with the wondrous world of all us film buffs. In 'White Heat' the shrewd James Cagney takes on the role of a psychopath who has developed a huge mother complex. The psycho-social dimensions Jimmy C. injects into this particular film really snare us and bring us sweepingly into the multifaceted diamond that is this given story, indeed this film can hypnotize us in its own special way sort of like what happens when one views the superb and lilting 'Double Indemnity' that was conjured up by one superior writer, James M. Cain. In'White Heat' the finesse-prone Jimmy Cagney leads his zesty gang in a big heist of a payroll. The story comes wildly to life in this film under the quickly propelled directorial work of Raoul Walsh. Indeed, Raoul Walsh is one grand director and he kind of reminds me of the careful attention-to-detail work of another intense director guy, Samuel Fuller. Get into the Cagney, O'Brien and Mayo work of 'White Heat' and it looks like you will get plenty of what we Atanta area folks call max film enjoyment.

Of Tenor Saxes, Dashiell Hammett, Spring!

Feel so good today. Can feel Spring coming. So fine a sensation. Read some Elmore Leonard and one of my favorite classic noir-style writers, Dashiell Hammett. Lord, Dashiell Hammett can really write. He is not an average writer because the man's clever grasp of definitive characterizations truly enthralls me. Hammett's book, 'The Dain Curse' is such a classic, neo-modernist little novella. But Lord the fine jazz music got me really going so slick this lovely day. I enjoyed the resounding straight ahead jazz of one of my favorite tenor saxophonists, Dexter Gordon. This guy Dexter Gordon can really produce some explosively creative improvisatory choruses. He makes the ballads grand, too. I gave a listen to the haunting, 'Green Dolphin Street' and it had just the right zing, the pick-me-up I needed. On this tune, D. Gordon was joined by the excellent piano man George Cables and Rufus Reid on the bass and Eddie Gladden on drums. The comping by piano ace George Cables was especially outstanding. This kind of good, thoughtful jazz is so stimulating to one's well being sort of like enjoying the works of Henry David Thoreau or perhaps Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Oh, another good one, today. Old wacky me listened to Dexter Gordon and friends produce a great workout on the Sonny Stitt composition entitled, 'Loose Walk.' This number had a strong percussive buoyancy that tickled my musical palette, beautifully. I came back in my downstairs area and just enjoyed so much diggin' one of my favorite pieces of art, by the innovative impresario, Alexander Calder. Yes, it is a great so marvelous Monday, today.

Kim Kardashian, Dana Carvey Big Fun Time!

Dana Carvey, Kim Kardashian duo helped me out late last night. The magic twosome were guests on Jay Leno and the combination of the incredible Dana Carvey comic cleverness and the dynamic, lovely presence of Kim Kardashian got me laughing and feelin' so good. Lord knows with all this insane Atlanta area weather tripe I needed some real pick-me-up. Good interviews and certainly solid comic routines like last night on Leno (what an interesting guy Jay Leno is) produce so many huge laughing moments in wacky old me. The bizarre essence of U.S. culture needs massive comic stimulation especially since unemployment is still soaring in my state of Georgia. I think Kardashian is kind of like watching Marilyn Monroe many years ago. The excitement and grand joy of Kim Kardashian is her vibrant mode of high energy style. Fun is the name of this culture game. Of course the wild comedy of Dana Carvey and his shrewd and so innovative good stuff is a big kick also. I love comic culture cause the vital dynamic of the genre gets me over my doldrums about bills, weather etc.

'Alice' Movie Blasts Off to Record Sales

'Alice's' debut on the nation's screens turned out totally sensational this weekend. Great news! I am so happy. This marvelous 'Alice in Wonderland' is such a remarkable achievement for Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and the supremely talented director, Tim Burton. Reports this afternoon indicate this record-breaking movie made more than $116 million this weekend in the U.S. and about $94 million worldwide. What a super fantastic triumph for Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and all the dazzling creative people who put this thrilling project together. This movie 'Alice' is such a massive delight and a great boost for all the fine people of the American film industry.

Diana Krall's music's romantic and swingin'

Today is beautiful here in the historic Atlanta area. Fun is on my mind right now. Again I snared a big helping of happiness. I got my ears tuned to the lovely voice and magical keyboard of sexy, so romantic Diana Krall. The solid up tempo work of Diana Krall got my whole mojo going nice and brisk. The grand music of Diana Krall reminds me a bit of early Ella Fitzgerald. The good Ella Fitzgerald song, 'Tisket, Tasket' has always been a tremendous favorite of mine. Well anyway music buddies and confidantes I listened to Diana Krall doing a solid, gliding and remarkably polished rendition of the finesse standard, 'Deed I Do.' This song souped up my day to a just right level of real good times. Lord, I believe in good times cause it is so much fun to savor life's excitements. That's a good 10-4 as the radio pundits say. Thanks, Diana Krall, your extraordinary and fine and romantic and glad musical sounds were just right today.

'Alice in Wonderland' arrives on the scene

I am excited. The romantic and so creative movie, 'Alice in Wonderland' opens tomorrow. When I was a child I read the Lewis Carroll book, 'Alice.' It was a wild and magical fantasy trip of a vivid reading experience. Later, when I was a college student I studied the work of the great Englishman, Lewis Carroll, in an English Literature class. The story of Alice should really be a gigantic excitement to all people who love grand, imaginative films. Of course the fact this new film has the fabulous Johnny Depp should make it an even greater joy for all women and men to delight in. I love also that Tim Burton (a fine creative soul) had the director's task on this grand project. It is romantic and so marvelous that 'Alice in Wonderland' in glorious 3-D arrives tomorrow. It should spice up all our lives greatly and certainly the film magic of fab Johnny Depp and Tim Burton should enrich tremendously all our cultural lives. Huge cheers for 'Alice' indeed a great story that has come beautifully to life in a fascinating new film.

Romantic Sounds of Peggy Lee Sparkle!

The Romantic jazz sounds of Peggy Lee just knock me out. Peggy Lee's vocals are so winsome and sleekly subtle and wow the music of Peggy Lee is so full of the romantic greatness of life. What a lot of fun it is listening to this genius artist. This lovely Wednesday I totally enjoyed two great Peggy Lee songs: 'Hey Big Spender' and 'Is That All There Is.' The wild and engaging great tones of the Peggy Lee voice were so full of romantic flavor and good meaning. What a great jazzy Wednesday this little day is!

Diana Krall makes this snow day, a delight

Putting a lot of life in a song can be a hard job for a singer. Yet, Diana Krall makes the work seem effortless. The woman can produce pleasing jazz performances that can fascinate one's soul. I love her renditions of 'Look of Love' and 'Besame Mucho.' Their delightful, pulsating romantic flavor makes these songs just an exciting musical experience. I had max fun listening to one of Diana Krall's associates also. The man I am speaking of is Russell Malone, indeed a fine guitarist. The imaginative, a bit percussive solo work of Russell Malone is so much fun, yeah it's kind of like eating good ribs or maybe shrimp and grits. The snow has come again to my part of Georgia so it is so grand to just kick in and really "dig" great musical sounds today. The magic of Diana Krall and friends made my day a good one. Cheers!

Charles Mingus music lights up Sunday

Charles Mingus was such a brilliant, innovative jazz musician. His command of the string bass overwhelmed listeners. Many years ago, I heard him perform live at the Village Vanguard in good old NYC. His style was so superior, the man had a bright shiny jazz improvisatory conception that was fascinating. Today, I listened to a Charles Mingus group recording that was made in Oslo. The great tune was a good rendition of the Billy Strayhorn standard, 'Take The A Train.' This performance had not only the flawless work of Mingus on bass, but also featured zesty work by the acclaimed modernist Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet. I know the people who play bass clarinet have a hard time for the thing is a bit complicated to play. But Mr. Dolphy could get it done right. Eric Dolphy had some fine, good flash work on this vigorous jazz workout. Of course one more aspect of the Charles Mingus approach was the sensational man of the drums, the clever Danny Richmond. Most times when one hears good Mingus music, the percussive ace Mr. Danny Richmond is right there with Mingus et.al. It has been a great time this Sunday because the incredible jazz sounds of the thinkers, Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy and Danny Richmond provided the ancient known as me a feisty time this beautiful sunny day.

Jimmy Kimmel's a super comic right now

Good to branch out with one's leisure time. I am a comedy buff but I needed a little something new lately. So I have suddenly got into being an avid fan of the so casual and so "cool" funny guy, Jimmy Kimmel. He has a style that's so sleek and clever. Lord oh Lord, the man is so sophisticated. Last night he had a great interview with another fine comic personality, the actor David Spade (the guy who had great culture stuff with the mighty big guy Chris Farley). Chris Farley and David Spade are grand laugh guys. The alliance of Jimmy Kimmel and the feisty David Spade is a big helping of fun time, people. Another bit last night that had me guffawing was Jimmy Kimmel and his visit to Legends Barber Shop. The banter Jimmy Kimmel and the happy fellas did was so "boss" and so "right on." It was side-splitting the way the people took on curling and the Olympics shenanigans. If you men and women are looking for some delightful late night, whoop-it-up viewing then check the comic stylist Jimmy Kimmel. The man has developed a "hip" style that has lots of strong appeal.

'World Thinking Day' a Happening Time!

This afternoon was a great time here in Atlanta. Attended World Thinking Day over at a school in Midtown. My sons two daughters are Girl Scouts and this was a great cultural or perhaps I should say cross-cultural opportunity for them and all the other girls and adults at the event. There were displays and food from many countries like Japan, India, Italy, Germany, and Poland. It was a sparkling great time and the best thing was I could tell this poignant cultural experience was a beautiful thing for the children. You knew their creativity was greatly enhanced this afternoon. Since I grew up in a small town in Southwest Georgia I think I am so lucky to be in a vibrant urban metro area like Atlanta where girls and boys can enjoy eating sushi and kielbasa and other delicious foods from other lands. It is very interesting to see kids learning about the Far East, Europe and of course the Middle East. What a marvelous thrill of an experience today has been.